City of Glass
by Hawkflight7
Summary: A collection of drabbles and one-shots, centering around the Naruto characters and their life of running.
1. Chapter 1

**City of Glass - Open Skies**

 **Summary: A collection of drabbles and one-shots, centering around the Naruto characters and their life of running.**

 **I was playing Mirror's Edge, okay? And I just recently got into the Naruto fandom (shh, i know it's terribly late, but i'm here now!) and immediately thought of the runners like modern day shinobi, just without the jutsu. So that's the birth story of this fic.**

 **Not everyone will be a runner though - it's not exactly the most popular of professions after all - I've split the runner characters into four different "Cells;" Angels, Wolves, Ravens, and the Fae. Feel free to guess who's in what cell until it's revealed (or who's even a runner for that matter, you'll only meet one in this chapter). As for everyone else? You'll have to wait and see where they fit in in the City of Glass.**

 **Also, there's a heck of a lot more pairings in here than what ff allows me to show. So you've those mysteries to look forward to as well.**

A gentle breeze bent the grass down to tickle her nose causing Sakura to sneeze, momentarily jarred from the peaceful imagery surrounding her.

She raised a hand to brush the overgrown greenery aside, holding it down with the palm of her hand as she gazed skyward. The leaves above fluttered in the wind, dancing along the branch of the tree. Past that was the sky, blue with fluffy clouds of white crawling across the ocean suspended above.

It was beautiful, and quiet.

Something she desperately needed after staying cooped up in classes most of the day. She still had one more as well, barely ten minutes away. Which meant she would need to leave this little bit of paradise soon enough. To be swallowed back up in the chatter of the hallways, droning voices of the professors, and the cars that raced by on the streets.

Still, it only took her three minutes tops to get to her classroom from here, a garden hidden in the heart of the university enclosed on all sides by high concrete walls. The only way in and out was the windows-

A shadow passed over her and she blinked, her lips slipping into a grin a moment later.

Well, for most people anyways. There were a few people that used the rooftops to get here as well.

She sat up in the grass, watching as the figure gripped the edge of the building before letting go and dropping down to a ledge below only to turn and launch themselves from the wall into the top branches of a tree. Bits of bark flew from the trunk when he slid down to the dirt below before turning to face her. "Were you waiting for me, Sakura?"

For a second she continued to hold her breath, seeing how he moved always did that to her. There was an undeniable flow to his movements, a beauty to it that not even nature could hope to match.

She let out the breath she had been holding. "Actually, I was taking a break from the university. You being here is just an added bonus. So, how did your last delivery go, Sasuke?"

He gave a shrug of his shoulders. "It reached it's destination like all the others before it." Twigs and fallen leaves crunched beneath his feet as he walked to her. "You really want to talk about my job right now?"

Her cheeks warmed as he leaned toward her, his face inches away from hers as he crouched in the grass next to her. "No," she breathed just before his lips met hers and she lost herself in the feel of his lips on hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**City of Glass - The Deadpoint**

 **Enjoy the multiple chapters published at once while you can.**

His clothes shook hard, making swift loud _snaps_ that echoed around Naruto like bullets. The air was still though, this 'wind' was just his own swift passage through the sky.

And he loved it.

The way it sent his blood pumping through his veins, lifting his worries about the day right from his mind to leave nothing behind but _this_ exquisite feeling.

That moment the world around him seemed to freeze, when he could no longer tell if he was even moving as he just seemed to float in the sky above all the people hurrying below him to get to their jobs or other predetermined destinations.

 _The Deadpoint._

It lasted only for a second, but a second was all he ever needed. The rush of the air sounded around him again and he was falling. Down, down...

His feet hit their mark and he rolled forward, carrying his momentum through to the very end as he sprang back to his feet and took off once more, feet pounding along the roof top.

Yeah, he lived for this.


	3. Chapter 3

**City of Glass - Operation Lifted Record**

 **I should mention now that these chapters are not in chronological order. They're connected by the universe and certain events may appear/be mentioned in another chapter as the past or present time, some may even be the future of another chapter, etc. I'm really just writing these as they come to mind and wanted to make sure there isn't any complete and utter confusion in the future. A little confusion is fine though, even healthy ^.^**

Two pairs of feet echoed off the white walls of the hall as they made their way past closed office doors.

It left the building feeling eerily quiet. Well, except for the man to her left, droning on about the company as he walked. The only person she had seen for awhile since leaving the waiting room and the ladies running the front desk.

"I can't tell you how glad I am that a young person such as yourself is interested in the inner workings of the law. It's been awhile since we had a student visit that didn't just want a stamp on their papers to say they came and 'talked' just to get outside credit for their course. Most young people don't seem to respect the law now a days. Either they're busy running or not paying attention to the news. I swear most of our recruits come through one of our resources rather than through the front door themselves. But I'm sure with your interest that you already knew that."

"Yes," she confirmed quickly. "That's why I wanted to do my paper on the industry, but besides the individual departments there's not many companies around. Especially those independent of the police force - actually, strike that. There are no lawyers outside of the force, is there?" With a little laugh to push him toward the action at the bad joke the man's own laughter filled the hall soon after.

"Very true. Those independent of the police force don't make it very far until they collapse. I'm sure it has something to do with those runners. It makes you wonder what exactly they carry in those packages of their's that could do something like that. If they didn't run at so much as a shadow of a cop we might know already. They're like vermin really. Do you remember when one of our own and a runner caused a blackout in the city? They completely messed up security as well since it was all stationed in the Shard. Well, most of it. Still, it caused quite the stir on the news and around here. We had to up our security just to make sure another in the force wasn't somehow connected with the runners. We don't need another incident to occur like before."

"That would be unfortunate," she replied before becoming silent for a second. Just long enough to make him think she was reflecting on the events that had happened years ago in the city. "I remember the blackout myself, it was completely unprecedented that the force could be unhinged like that, and the security as well. At the time you were working with another company to help the force in it's quest to take out the groups of runners in the city, correct?"

"Oh, yes." He tugged at the collar of his shirt. "It should be known that we are no longer connected with them considering the failure they presented us with. We do still have the training facility they created, but that's all. I hear that security company itself is doing better now, under new management I believe. Good for them, I say. They need a new beginning after the scandal at the Shard."

"That's good to hear," she said, wondering if perhaps they were having trouble hiring because they were actually _still_ connected with that company. Even if it did have a new name and logo with it's change it management it certainly hadn't given up on it's mission, and neither had the police department.

"That's all past now anyway," the man just waved off their previous discussion, going straight back to the department and it's new views and how it was handling them. "Our main concern now is-"

There was a crackling in her right ear, a soft voice coming through the speaker, _"There should be an access point into their file storage near you. All you need to do is get the code, the files, and then get out. Just don't run and the operation should continue to go smoothly."_ The buzzing stopped and she almost sighed, catching herself before the sound could escape her.

It was only the second time he had spoken to her throughout this operation, and just to remind her what to do. Sure, he also told her the door she needed to get through would be coming up soon as well, but that was hardly news.

She had spotted it and the number pad ahead already. Was it too much to ask that he checked up on her every once and awhile just to see that she was alright? Not that she could answer that is. Besides, if she were to mention it to him - as if she ever could - Itachi was likely to give a perfectly rational explanation as to why not.

Hinata could hear him now, 'During an operation you need to be completely aware of your surroundings. If someone asks you a question you need to be paying attention to answer it. Not being able to just arouses suspicion in this day and age, it doesn't look good.'

It was annoying really. 'Cause it was the truth. Just once she would like to see him completely speechless, another near impossibility.

Regardless, she would continue to hope.

She pulled her clipboard towards herself as they passed the door, glancing down to the reflection of the intern standing beside it, stabbing in the keys swiftly. With a look to the man walking with her and seeing he was still talking to himself about everything the police force had accomplished in a few years she tapped her pen once against the board. When he didn't turn to her immediately she began to tap out the numbers on the keyboard with her pen.

The man just kept on talking though and she doubted the cameras were picking up her little taps with their microphones. The one tucked on the inside of her shirt was a different matter entirely.

 _"Got it."_

She gave a few more taps, lengthening the silence between them before stopping completely.

When they turned the corner down the hall she proceeded to walk a few steps before stopping completely. "Excuse me, I need to use the lady's room."

"Oh, there's one right back down that hall-"

"Thank you. I'll be right back." Hinata turned swiftly, going back down the now vacant hallway. She didn't chance a glance back down either way as she walked until she heard _his_ voice again.

 _"You're good to go."_

She didn't say a word in reply. Microphones and all. Hinata just punched in the key numbers on the pad, knowing the camera light had turned red. Which meant security was getting pre-made feed of her in the hallway, going into the door she had actually said she was going to.

With the last number entered she opened the door, slipping into the room and pulling the door shut silently behind her. She went straight to the row of cabinets marked F-H, pulling the appropriate cabinet open to run her finger over the files within before gripping one between her thumb and forefinger. Hinata pulled it out from the drawer, sliding it beneath the pile of papers already on her clipboard. With the cabinet shut again she only waited for Itachi to tell her the path was clear before exiting the room and heading back down the far hall to find the man and continue the rest of the tour.

When it was finally done she nearly sighed in relief while walking out from the building with her clipboard. Not only did her throat feel sore from all the talking she had to do, but she felt spent of energy even though she had only been walking, not running. It was exhausting though; keeping her voice from cracking over the simplest of words, to hold back that nervous stutter, to stop herself from going completely silent.

At the moment she didn't want to ever take up a job like this again, but if Itachi required her to do another one she knew she wouldn't be able to refuse him.


End file.
